Fort Tilden Post Office Faces Eviction

By Nicholas Briano

The United States Post Office Fort Tilden Branch is facing eviction from the National Park Service, who wants to charge rent for the location after 70 years of operation.
The Fort Tilden Post Office, which has served the Breezy Point community for more than 70 years is being evicted by the National Park Service (NPS) and must vacate the premises by the end of February, according to the present postmistress.

Dorothy Farrell, who has overseen the contracted post office for more than 30 years, told The Wave this week that NPS has plans to charge rent for the property, something that’s never been done in the past. Farrell says that she works on straight salary from the United States Postal Service and does not make a profit from the Fort Tilden Post Office.

If the Post Office should close, not only would residents of Roxbury and Breezy Point lose a post office, but Farrell will be out of a job as well.

“Yes it is true,” Farrell said. “We got an eviction notice and we were supposed to be out by December 31, but were granted a two month extension until February 28. They [NPS] want to charge us rent, something we can’t afford.”

Farrell insists that despite its relative isolation from the rest of the peninsula, the Fort Tilden Post Office provide a valuable service to the community.

“It is a service to community. We get customers from all over, even Brooklyn who come here. Closing would be a burden on the public, forcing them to go all the way to Rockaway Park for a post office,” she said.

The closest post office for the typical Breezy Point resident is indeed the Rockaway Park branch, located more than 5 miles away.

Farrell says the post office is more significant now than it was 30 years ago to the increase in year-round residents and the preference by many to be in a small community post office with good service and friendly people.